I wanna always feel like part of this was mine
Celebrating an iconic album on its 25th birthday.
This past Friday, I had the absolute joy of seeing Jimmy Eat World again. Back in December, they played a free show at the Inner Harbor here in Baltimore, part of the festivities around the Army/Navy game. The surprisingly Futures-heavy set was a delight, despite the frigid temperature. And so, my appetite for the band whetted by that experience, when the Bleed American anniversary tour was announced, there was no doubt I was going to try and go.
As there was no Baltimore date this time around, my options were Philly, or brave the DC date of the reanimated Warped Tour. The latter was absolutely not an option. I don’t think I could survive Warped at this point in my life. Philadelphia, here we come.
The setlist for the shows remained unchanged night-to-night. I know some people dislike the predictability of knowing the set ahead of time, and I get it. For these sorts of album shows, I don’t mind having a sense of what else is going to make the set, if anything; was this going to be like when AFI celebrated Sing the Sorrow, playing the birthday album front to back and nothing but?
At the risk of spoiling things for anyone who has yet to see an upcoming date on the tour and hasn’t heard, the band leans pretty heavily on Clarity for this one; opening with 4 tracks of that iconic album before launching into the main event, and closing with “For Me This is Heaven,” a couple of tracks from Futures, “Disintegration,” and Bleed American b-side “(Splash) Turn Twist.” It was a great night, the band sounded fantastic. Even if I didn’t love the venue; the Mann Center in Philly is a giant outdoor space, not my ideal concert environment.
It was also a delight to get to see some friends I hadn’t in a long time! Blair, Maryanne, and Trish, with whom I have seen probably dozens of Bosstones shows with, were in attendance, and it was great to get to spend some time with them all again.
If there’s one thing the last few years have made abundantly clear to me, it’s that I really love Jimmy Eat World. I always kind of knew it. I remember hearing Clarity in late high school in a friend’s car, and a whole lot of my memories of my freshman year of college are soundtracked by a burned copy of Bleed American in my off-brand Discman. I have gone through the typical journey with the band’s hit: “this song rules and is a hit for a reason” → “eh, it’s overplayed and it’s not even that good” → “this song rules and is a hit for a reason.”1
At some point along the way, when the concept of “guilty pleasure” music still meant something to me, I was shamed about loving this band. Emo? Pssh! So lame! And they’re so popular, to boot! What could be worse than listening to a wussy emo band than a sell out emo band? My god, the lack of cred is astonishing. I wasn’t punk, and soon they’d be telling everyone. I have vivid memories of sheepishly confessing I’d bought a ticket to see the Clarity x10 tour on its Boston date, and the mockery was swift and cutting. The show was great, but the experience was tainted.
And that sucks! I’m glad that as I’ve gotten older the idea of feeling guilty about the music I like has all but vanished. What’s the point? I spent too many years being too embarrassed to full-throatedly sing my love for these songs. I’m not sure everyone is so glad for my awakening, as “A Praise Chorus” has become one of my karaoke staples.2 I think I turn out a good performance of it, for what it’s worth. And I’m probably not going to stop any time soon!
Anyway, Jimmy Eat World rules. Bleed American is an all-time great record, and I love it with all of my heart. I’m glad I got to see it, and I hope you do too. If you haven’t checked it out in a minute, or if you’ve never sat down and given it a listen, I suggest you do so.
